The Second Jackson- Piper McLean book 1

Inspiring Speeches

"Not true" I said.

"I'm supposed to have these powers I haven't figured out how to use" Frank said bitterly. "Now I don't have a spear, and I'm almost out of arrows. And... I'm scared"

"I'd be worried if you weren't scared" Lani said. "We're all scared"

"But the Feast of Fortuna is..." Frank thought about it. "It's after midnight isn't it? That means it's June twenty-fourth now. The feast starts tonight at sundown. We have to find our way to the Hubbard Glacier, defeat a giant who is undefeatable in his home territory, and get back to Camp Jupiter before they're overrun- all in less than eighteen hours"

"And when we free Thanatos," I said. "he might claim your life. And Hazel's. Believe me, I've been thinking about it"

Frank gazed at Hazel, still snoring lightly. Her face was buried under a mass of curly brown hair.

"She's my best friend" Frank said. "I lost my mom, my grandmother... I can't lose her too"

I thought about my old life- my mom in New York, Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth. I'd lost all of that for eight months. Even now, with the memories coming back... I'd never been this far away from home before. I'd been to the Underworld and back. I'd faced death dozens of times. But sitting at this picnic table, thousands of miles away, beyond the power of Olympus, I'd never been so alone- except for Lani, Hazel, and Frank.

"I'm not going to lose any of you" Lani promised. "I'm not going to let that happen. And Frank, you are a leader. Hazel would say the same thing. We need you"

Frank lowered his head. He seemed lost in thought. Finally he leaned forward until his head bumped the picnic table. He started to snore in harmony with Hazel.

I sighed. "Another inspiring speech from Lani Jackson. Rest up Frank. Big day ahead."

After a moment of silence Lani spoke. "You know, I remember talking to Zoe about what we would do if we survived that quest to save Artemis. She told me about a hunter who lived here in Alaska before she joined the Hunt. Zoe wanted to come here, to visit or even live here. Honestly, I get it, it's beautiful here, and there's wildlife everywhere. She would have loved it"

"You never talked about her much" I noted.

"Yeah, I don't know why, it just seemed like a weird thing to talk about I guess" Lani shrugged.

"It's not weird. I talk about what I see for my future with Annabeth" I pointed out.

"Yeah, but Annabeth is alive, you still might have that future. I don't, not with Zoe." Lani sighed. "I had a dream. Artemis came to visit me, she told me some of the things I forgot about this," she motioned to the mark on her arm. "Basically she lectured me for not moving on... She told me it was time to let go, but I don't know how. What if I can't?"

"You will, someday" I said confidently.

"How can you be so sure? It's been, what, three years now?" Lani groaned, laying her head on the table. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's your turn, talk about Annabeth. Tell me what you remember, the little things"

I sighed. "Fine, but I know your just using deflection as a coping mechanism. I remember her gray eyes, and how they would look like a storm when she was mad. She's smart, but she isn't always talking about it. She puts up with me and sometimes when she's annoyed, she'll scrunch up her nose. When she talks about architecture her eyes light up and she can't stop herself from smiling. I don't think she notices that she's smiling. She's competitive and wins almost everything. She's prideful but not in an arrogant way. If she gets angry enough her right ear turns redder than the left. She fidgets with her necklace when she's worried or sad."

"She makes you happy." Lani smiled. "The way you talk about her is the same way she talks about architecture. She's good for you, and she's good to you. I know you'll be good to her and you're serious about your relationship with her. I don't know if Athena is going to be very happy if you ask for her blessing to propose to Annabeth, but I don't doubt that Annabeth would say yes. Just keep the promise you made to me, that when you see her again you won't let her go."

"You seem so confident that she and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together" I noticed.

"Yeah, I am. Aphrodite isn't going to let anything happen to your relationship. I'm pretty sure you guys are her favorite relationship. If not hers than definitely her kids, I'm pretty sure they would be willing to fight anyone who tried to keep you guys apart" Lani said.

We shared a laugh, and she picked her head up from the table.

"You should get some sleep" I told her.

"And so should you" She countered.

"I slept on the plane, you didn't, so sleep now" I argued.

"Fine" she sighed, putting her head back on the table and falling asleep.

"Don't worry sis, I'll make sure you find your person" I smiled down at my twin. "This time I won't let you lose them"

At dawn the store opened up. The owner was a little surprised to find four teenagers crashed out on his picnic table, but when I explained that we had stumbled away from last night's train wreck, the guy felt sorry for us and treated us to breakfast. He called a friend of his, an Inuit native who had a cabin close to Seward. Soon we were rumbling along the road in a beat-up Ford pickup that had been new about the time Hazel was born.

Lani, Hazel, and Frank sat in back. I rode up front with the leathery old man, who smelled like smoked salmon. He told me storied about Bear and Raven, the Inuit gods, and all I could think was that I hoped I wouldn't meet them. I had enough enemies already.

The truck broke down a few miles outside Seward. The driver didn't seem surprised, as though this happened to him several times a day. He said we could wait for him to fix the engine, but since Seward was only a few miles away, we decided to walk it.

By midmorning, we climbed over a rise in the road and saw a small bay ringed with mountains. The town was a thin crescent on the right-hand shore, with wharves extending into the water and a cruise ship in the harbor.

I shuddered. I'd had bad experiences with cruise ships.

"Seward" Hazel said. She didn't sound happy to see her old home.

We'd already lost a lot of time, and I didn't like how fast the sun was rising. The road curved around the hillside, but it looked like we could get to town faster going straight across the meadows.

I stepped off the road. "Come on"

The ground was squishy, but I didn't think much about it until Hazel shouted, "Percy, no!"

My next step went straight through the ground. I sank like a stone until the earth closed over my head- and the earth swallowed me.